Rave's Raves

Interview by Bruce Rave Back at The Great Escape in May, Bruce Rave sat down with The Bohicas from London. If you like guitar hooks, this band is for you. They shred live and sound great in the studio as well. The band has shows in Europe and Japan, and will hopefully hit American shores […]

Is there anyone on a modern stage among newer artists that sings with more soul than Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes? That would be hard to imagine. Check out “Miss You”, a deeper track from the band’s sophomore Sound and Color album. It starts out quietly but sure doesn’t stay that way. While you’re at […]

Two years ago, I got to see and interview Strypes for the first time at The Great Escape. In their mid-teens at the time, they were conquering the UK in 2013 and then made great strides in the US last year with their fast-paced garage and r&b flavored indie. Many of their best songs were […]

Blossoms were highly recommended to Bruce Rave by leading BBC tastemaker Steve Lamacq. After seeing the band at SXSW and knowing they’d be at The Great Escape this year, Bruce targeted them as a rising band to hang with. Here we discuss their musical and live approaches, their Stockport roots (close to Manchester), the mistaken […]

Bruce Rave chilled with Catfish and the Bottlemen’s Van McCann for a second time during South By Southwest this year. Lots had happened since their initial chat back in November before the band’s LA debut. Catfish just drew 10,000 in London, and their “Kathleen” notched a top 15 peak on the US alternative charts. They […]

What do you get when you mix Franz Ferdinand with Sparks (FFS)? You get something that makes a whole lot of sense. Franz leader Alex Kapranos has called Sparks “a huge influence” and what you get in this collaboration is a real party. “Piss Off” sounds mostly like Sparks back in the 70’s when they […]

Interview by Bruce Rave B3SCI was the vehicle that introduced me to these talented dudes. Lead singer Jake (“The Turntan”) wrote to me in January through the blog and he mentioned he liked some my “Rave’s Fave” posts. He attached their track “Little Grace”. All too often, these sincere notes are accompanied by music that […]

Great name for a band, right? Three of the four Gateway Drugs peeps include Gabe, Noa, and Liv, the two sons and a daughter of bassist Prescott Niles of The Knack. Yes, this family grew up in the aura of that unforgettable “My Sharona” octave bassline. That was the #1 song of 1979 so how […]

Bruce Rave had a great chat with Wombats lead singer Murph before their two late January shows in LA. We updated on new songs, the surprise of “Jump Into the Fog” being the song to blow them up in the US, staying healthy on the road, his personal life, etc. The Wombats Glitterbug album drops […]

This is the first single from Courtney Barnett’s full-length followup to her EP, and it should dispel any questions about whether she can be successful long-term. Her energetic live shows have shown her to be a sick guitar player, and it was only a matter of time before she’d hit us with a banger like […]

Welcome back to a band we’ve been following since before their initial US release. After a highly prolific few years that spawned two albums, an EP, and several one-off singles, they took awhile to come up with this return. “Handsome” is a driving pop tune in that familiar Vaccines vein, but with more production in […]

Last year we posted Rory Wynne’s debut single “Post Party Confusion”. This talented Manchester, UK 15 year old has garnered the attention of various tastemaking radio DJ’s in London and Manchester who have raved about his talent. Now comes “I Know She Knows”, which rivals Rory’s debut in quality but is much different in sound. […]

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